The Third War: World War, Wizard Style
by racle
Summary: It is three years after Voldemort was killed by Harry. Even though he is a ghost, he orders his remaining servants to recruit thousands more to his cause. Voldemort's dreams of world domination are finally coming true.
1. Prologue: Where Are They Now?

Prologue: Where Are They Now?

This story is mostly set three years after the end of Harry's seventh year at Hogwarts. A brief summary of what happened to the characters during the intervening three years—

NOTE: **This story was written prior to the release of _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince_; thus, all major characters will still be alive, despite rumors of a character death in Book 6.**

**Harry**: After defeating Voldemort in his 7th year, he joined the Auror service along with his best friend Ron. They now work as partners on Auror missions. Harry's job is enough to support him, so he has donated most of his fortune to Hermione's research.

**The Slytherins**: Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy, Blaise, and most of the other Slytherins in Harry's year and most of the ones who were a year lower are still loyal to Voldemort, despite his death. Most have taken the Dark Mark to become Death Eaters.

**Tom Riddle, the Lord Voldemort**: His death has deprived him of corporeal form, but his wandless magic skills, while insufficient for dueling, are enough for him to effectively control the Death Eaters, even though he is now a ghost. He cannot touch a wand, so he cannot cast the Unforgivable Curses, but he can still summon his followers with the Dark Mark, Apparate, and use Legilimency/Occulmency as before.

**Professor Snape**: The final duel with Voldemort was close enough to force Snape's hand, thus exposing him as a spy for Dumbledore. Now it is no longer just the students who call him "Snivellus"; the Death Eaters do as well, and they do it openly as well as behind his back. Snape is more despised than even Dumbledore; both are blood traitors, but Snape also personally betrayed the Dark Lord—something even Dumbledore never did.

**Hermione**: Torn between her love of learning and her desire to stay with her Auror friends, Hermione decided to pursue both tracks by using a Time-Turner to simultaneously train as an Auror and open a research laboratory of magic. She is trying to discover and invent new spells, and find a counter for Avada Kedavra. Most of her research funds are provided by Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and Harry Potter.

**Neville**: One of the students who helped in the final duel with Voldemort, and now works as an Auror; Seamus Finnigan is his partner.

**Ron**: Harry's partner in the Auror service (just as many fanfics predict…), and before that, in the final duel with Voldemort.

**Ginny**: Another of the students who helped against Voldemort, now a Healer at Saint Mungo's (just as many fanfics predict…)

**Parvati**: Initially worked as a reporter for the Daily Prophet, but was fired by Rita Skeeter after refusing to write a defamatory (and untrue) article about Harry & co. She has found a new job as the publicist for the Order of the Phoenix, writing pro-mudblood propaganda.

**The Other Gryffindors**: Although they've gone to many different careers, their membership in the Order of the Phoenix keeps them together, and their wand-dueling skills are only marginally below that of an Auror.

Please, please go to the next chapter--that's where the real story begins. Then, if you don't like it, you can say so.


	2. The Spell Heard 'Round the World

Chapter 1

-----June 9, 1997----

It was a bright, sunny morning when Lucius Malfoy felt the Dark Mark burning on his arm, as did all the other Death Eaters. Surprised by the unexpected call, he apparated to the current location of his master, a single, unmarked grave somewhere in the countryside. The other remaining Death Eaters arrived at the same time, and they gathered around their Master. Lucius looked around him; most of them were there. A few were noticeably absent, after being discovered as spies for Dumbledore or otherwise disloyal. What remained of Voldemort's corporeal form was buried here, under this unmarked gravestone.

Floating above the gravestone was the transparent white apparition of Lord Voldemort, who had been killed by Harry Potter just a month ago, with assistance from the traitor to the Dark Lord, Severus Snape. As soon as all the Death Eaters were done apparating in, Voldemort addressed his followers:

"The prophecy has been fulfilled by my death, and the forces of good are finally complacent. It is time to begin preparing for our final victory. We must be patient, and careful. We will not win by gradual attrition and individual acts of valor, as my untimely demise has demonstrated. Instead, we must gain the upper hand in numbers, because even if each of us may be superior to an Auror in single combat, there are several Aurors for each one of us. We must recruit armies of the pure-blooded to crush our enemies in a conflict of massive scale. The task of each of you will be to find sympathetic wizards, creatures, anyone who can help—even your House Elves. Gather the recruits and train them in the Dark Arts. Above all, avoid discovery. When the time is right, I will tell you where to assemble for battle.

"Dismissed!"

The Death Eaters were all visibly confused, but none dared to disobey their Master, even when he was dead. "Yes, master!" chorused all the Death Eaters in unison. Then, some quiet murmurs in the audience of "House Elves?"

"Yes, that is what I said," Voldemort said, "Don't look down on your House Elves just because they're scrawny. In numbers, they can make a difference to our cause. It would do us much good to earn their loyalty. They are content to serve, and there is no need at all to kick them around. If you politely ask them, rather than rudely ordering, you will find them more enthusiastic."

"Yes, master!" chanted the Death Eaters. Cracking noises filled the atmosphere as the Death Eaters disapparated.

-----------------------Three Years Later----------------------

-----September 11, 2000----

On the prairie north of Voldemort's grave, some thirty thousand new Death Eaters, equipped with wands, short swords, animals of various kinds, and the standard uniform (a black wizard robe emblazoned with a silver-colored Dark Mark) were forming up for their first battle. Voldemort looked over his new army, seeming very pleased.

He had good reason to be; it was indeed a splendid military force. A dozen large serpents, kept under control by several Parseltongue-speaking Death Eaters, lay coiled idly around the field. On the east flank of the army, four hundred Dementors stood in a phalanx formation. The west flank was held by Voldemort's newly invented cavalry—two thousand of the most athletic Death Eaters, riding centaurs and winged horses, armed with wand-tipped spears, suitable for casting spells or physically impaling flesh. In the center, Voldemort placed his dragons and hippogriffs, controlled either by Legilimency or by Imperius Curses. Those Death Eaters who were neither skilled at Legilimency, nor physically fit and used to handling animals, nor with any special abilities, were stuck as infantry, standing on either side of the dragons and hippogriffs. Armed with a wand in one hand and a sword in the other, they were the most formidable of wizard warriors yet conceived in the imagination of the wizarding world. In the rear, over two thousand House Elves, servants of noble families like the Malfoys, were shackled to carts hauling 200-pound boulders. Thrown by the strong hand of a dragon, these would be highly effective artillery, no worse than any Muggle trebuchet or catapult. To the left of the House Elves, two hundred and sixty-five acromantulas, recruited out of the Forbidden Forest, stood still on their many legs. On the right were three hundred mountain trolls, all armed with massive sticks and clubs; they had been difficult to find and control, but it was worth the effort.

It was the biggest concentration of military power ever to exist in the history of the wizarding world. The army's size was nearly a quarter of the entire wizarding population of the United Kingdom; many houses in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and northern England were empty, with so many wizards and witches having been conscripted to the Dark Lord's service. Food and supplies sufficient to maintain so many people was very expensive indeed, and the salary demanded by the human troops added to the cost; most of Voldemort's few original followers were completely bankrupt. Paying thirty thousand individuals 45 Galleons per month in addition to weapons, uniforms, and nourishment was a heavy drain on the accumulated wealth of the noble Death Eater families.

At the gravestone, Voldemort was lecturing some of his more senior Death Eaters about the planned campaign they were to travel.

"We are now here," Voldemort pointed on the map, "The intended campaign will go like this. Today, we will move south to capture Hogwarts Castle. We'll leave a thousand men to garrison Hogwarts, then take the rest to Hogsmeade so that the word gets out about our attacks."

His subordinates stared blankly at him, not daring to ask why Voldemort wanted the rest of the Wizarding World to know about his return.

Voldemort, seeing their expressions, realized that he had impressed a bit too much fear upon his subordinates. It was just as well anyway; Voldemort preferred that fear of himself to persist, which made it much easier to control his followers. Of course, he was still proficient in Legilimency (and any magic that didn't require a wand) if he needed to coerce them, but that would be a lot of effort for him.

"We want the Ministry of Magic to learn of our presence before we actually capture it," Voldemort explained. "In order to not be completely idle, we'll take Hogsmeade before we march on the Ministry. They will probably surrender; in which case we will treat the people mercifully and invite them to join our forces. As we approach London, I'll send word to our supporters in the Ministry, and as we've arranged, they will reply with an offer to negotiate. The eventual deal is that they'll agree to accept the 'protection' of Lord Voldemort's army and we will then become the official military of the Ministry. The Aurors will be ordered to join us, and we'll kill any of them who refuse. Once we rule Britain, we can begin conquering other countries.

"Keep in mind that on our way to London, we will probably take many cities without a fight; be merciful to the inhabitants; do not allow the Dementors, trolls, and acromantulas to get out of hand! If we encounter resistance, then and only then will we use the cruelty for which we are widely known.

"That's all. Return to your divisions; we march for Hogwarts in fifteen minutes."

Lucius rolled the map up and put it back in his robe. All the senior Death Eaters bowed and apparated back to the particular troops whose command they had been assigned.

Fifteen minutes later, the Death Eaters, Dementors, acromantulas, House Elves, trolls, serpents, dragons, and hippogriffs were advancing in an unbroken line as far as the eye could see. School was in session at Hogwarts; it was not long before students and teachers alike noticed the line of people, with large green Dark Marks floating in the air, approaching the school.

An owl flew through an open window at the Ministry of Magic, throwing a rolled parchment on the office desk of the Minister of Magic, Amelia Bones. The owl perched on the windowsill while Amelia took up the paper and read it:

_Please gather all the Aurors and send them to Hogwarts as quickly as possible. We are being approached by over twenty thousand Death Eaters. Make special provisions to fend off the dragons, hippogriffs, serpents, mountain trolls, and acromantulas which are being controlled by the Death Eaters. –Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster_


	3. The Battle of Hogwarts

Chapter 2

-----September 11, 2000----

The Death Eaters were slowly, but implacably, closing the distance to Hogwarts; now they were only a few hundred feet beyond the Quidditch pitch. At this moment, Dumbledore received his requested Aurors, two of his former students.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley. You are two of the many Aurors I requested?" he asked.

"We are, Professor Dumbledore," Harry replied. "I think there's two more coming."

"Call me Albus; you are no longer my student," Dumbledore corrected. "Now, to the matter at hand. I asked for all the Aurors that were currently available. Did you say only two more would be coming?"

"Most of the other Aurors are all out on missions at the moment," Ron explained. "I think Neville's available, though, and they're scrambling to find a dragon expert. Too bad Charlie's in Romania right now—he could deal with those dragons easily…"

Suddenly another two people jumped through the fireplace. Neville Longbottom landed on his feet with his wand drawn, then lowered it when he saw there were no nearby enemies. "Where's the Death Eaters—" he started to ask, but stopped when he saw the Death Eaters through the window.

The last person stood more slowly, and Dumbledore was the first to notice him. "Hello, Charlie," Dumbledore said politely, just as the others realized that this was Charlie Weasley, who was supposedly in Romania. "Long time no see. Are you the Ministry dragon expert?"

"And aren't you supposed to be in Romania?" Ron managed to squeeze the question in before Charlie started talking.

"I'm not officially on the Ministry's payroll, no," he explained, "Minister of Magic Bones just came by the Burrow and said there were dragons attacking Hogwarts, and asked me for help. Ron, I just got back from my Romanian expedition this morning, and we were going to surprise you when you got back from work. Anyway, where's the dragons?"

The others pointed out the window. Charlie looked over and saw the three dragons flying low over the ground, with Death Eaters riding them.

"Hmm. That doesn't look right, how did they get the dragons tame enough to _ride_ them?"

Dumbledore cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Is this truly all the help that the Ministry would send? Very well. I only require you four to find a way to distract the Death Eaters for about fifteen minutes while I and my staff evacuate the students to safety." Then he calmly left his office, allowing the Aurors to plan.

"Wait a minute!" Harry exclaimed suddenly. Everyone looked up expectantly, paying him their full attention, as he then said, "Neville, where's your partner?" Ron and Charlie were clearly disappointed, having thought that Harry had just had some bright idea. Neville replied, "He's somewhere in the Irish countryside, I'm not sure where exactly. The Ministry's trying to find him, but it might be a few hours before he gets here."

"Oh," Harry said, "I was just wondering. Now how do we stop the dragons?"

"Wait, I think I've got an idea," Charlie said excitedly, "We have to stop the dragons and the Death Eaters. A dragon's hide is as strong as a standard Shield charm, so dragons are immune to many spells. But dragons have weak spots where their hide doesn't cover. They're vulnerable to any hex if it's aimed into a nostril, down their throats, or through a genital opening."

"So? Do we fly up to them and Avada Kedavra down their throats?" Harry asked. "Then what about the Death Eaters?"

"No, not Avada Kedavra," Charlie said, laughing despite his best efforts. "I'm sure, thanks to Fred and George, that you guys all know the Bladder-Buster Hex? No, I mean, dragons have bladders too. If we make them pee all over their Death Eater masters, that should be a good enough distraction for us to escape."

All four of them now burst out laughing.

"And for the serpents," Charlie continued, "we should check to see if they're basilisks. If they are, all we need to kill them is the sound of a cock crow. We could transfigure ourselves into cocks and crow at them."

About this time, the three Aurors, while all doubled over with laughter, realized that they were neglecting their job. They tried, with little success, to resume a straight face.

"We'll need to get broomsticks," Harry announced, "We have to get to the Quidditch Pitch!"

They dashed down the halls past the students now being ordered out of the school in neat lines by the teachers, reaching the Quidditch area in a minute. As they each boarded a Firebolt 2000 broomstick, Neville asked, "Wait, what about the Death Eaters riding the horses? And shouldn't we use Patronuses for the Dementors?"

"Cast the Patronus charm in mid-air over the Dementors after we hex the dragons," Harry responded as they shot into the air on their broomsticks. "The Dementors should scatter. For the horses—well, I—"

Ron broke in, "We can hex the hippogriffs too. Maybe even drag a hippogriff over the horses. Then the whole Death Eater group will get urine raining on their heads."

They were now coming up to the dragons already, having just passed over the heads of the Death Eaters on foot. They had been noticed, and very bright green bolts—clearly Avada Kedavra curses—were flying up all around them. Charlie raced right in front of one dragon's snout, pointing his wand at the dragon's nostril and muttering the hex, then swerving and pulling away to avoid the dragon's fire breath. The three Aurors followed Charlie's example with the other two dragons, and as Harry swerved off from the last dragon's nose, Charlie's hex on the first dragon took effect.

Screaming was heard from the Death Eaters on the ground below as large volumes of putrid-smelling liquid sprayed down from the dragon's cloaca, soaking the black felt robes. The Avada-Kedavra-ing from below ceased, but the Death Eaters riding the still-unaffected hippogriffs continued to fire the curses at the four men on broomsticks. However, as each hippogriff received the same hex, the riders had to turn their attention to getting their hippogriffs out of the way to avoid letting the urine fall on their compatriots below. Charlie and the Aurors swooped down towards the Dementors, using the hilarious moments they had just now experienced as the positive memories on which to base their Patronus charms. Together they swerved up to avoid crashing to the ground, shouting "Expecto patronum!" Four glittering, shiny silver animals appeared before the Dementors—a stag, weasel, wolf, and dragon—and the Dementors scattered off immediately, each seeming to glide along the ground away from the Patronuses.

Lord Voldemort looked on his Death Eater troops in disappointment. These were thirty thousand trained, pureblood dark wizards—and were now in total chaos against just four of the enemy! He himself was fortunately not affected by the distraction—the urine droplets all simply passed right through his ghost form—and he signaled to the mountain trolls, ordering them to charge.

The Aurors were now flying back to the school on their broomsticks, along with Charlie, when they noticed the trolls running for them at top speed.

"Hey, I think they're going to trample their own!" Harry called, pointing at the Death Eaters who were now struggling to avoid not just the mixed hippogriff/dragon urine but also get out of the way of the advancing trolls.

"That's good—wait, I think I've got an idea!" Neville shouted over the noise.

"What is it Neville?"

"Lure the trolls to where the Dementors are now. Then, lead them from one end of the Death Eaters to the other—"

"Neville, that's a splendid idea!" Charlie shouted back excitedly. "They'll step all over their own Death Eaters!" Suddenly he felt a presence behind him, and instinctively dived. He barely avoided the end of the massive club that whistled through the air, passing right through his former position. More trolls stepped up, whacking through the air at the four elusive broomstick riders.

Voldemort quickly realized what was about to happen. "Give me a Sonorus spell!" he commanded. The Death Eater pointed his wand at the Dark Lord and pronounced "Sonorus". Now, with his amplified voice, Voldemort shouted: "Charge towards Hogwarts! Spread out and move fast and you won't get stepped on by the trolls!"

"Get over to that end of the line!" Harry shouted, flying his own broomstick over. The others followed. The mountain trolls ran after them, just as Charlie and Neville had hoped. Now sounds of splatters and the crunch of bones breaking accompanied the screaming. The Bladder-Buster Hexes had largely worn off now, and the Aurors' group was facing Avada Kedavra fire from the hippogriff riders, but fortunately they all missed. Instead, one of the hippogriffs was accidentally whacked with a troll's club blow that had been meant for Ron's broomstick. The hippogriff's broken, bloody corpse plummeted to the ground.

Voldemort held up his hands towards the two riders falling from the dead hippogriff, and with a wandless cushioning charm to the ground, saved two of his followers from certain death. He then continued floating towards Hogwarts.

Ron, Charlie, Harry, and Neville returned on their amazingly undamaged broomsticks and ran up to Dumbledore's office, laughing all the way. Just as they arrived at his door, Dumbledore stepped out.

"The evacuation is done," he wheezed, smiling with the familiar twinkle in his eyes. "Thanks to your impressive antics, all students are safe and accounted for. The four of you have earned your place in history. Now, it is time to go. Spread the word—there will be an Order meeting this afternoon, four o'clock, Grimmauld Place."

Dumbledore led them to one of the secret passages, from which they proceeded to Hogsmeade.

The door from the Quidditch Pitch collapsed and thousands of Death Eaters swarmed into an empty castle. Lord Voldemort floated above the action, watching his troops finally behave as they had been trained: checking for traps and hidden enemies, securing the castle room by room. Hogwarts Castle had fallen to the Death Eaters. The first battle of theFourth War had been won—but it was a Pyrrhic victory indeed.

Seventy-four Death Eaters lay splattered on the grass outside Hogwarts, trampled over by their own allies in the worst friendly-fire incident the wizarding world had ever seen. It was a small loss compared to the total forces at Voldemort's command, but compared to the casualties on Dumbledore's side—zero—it was totally unacceptable.

Voldemort swore to himself that he would do better next time. And he recognized three of the four opponents on broomsticks from today's battle: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom—he had faced them three years previous, in the duel that had finally fulfilled the prophecy and rendered him a ghost. The fourth, by his resemblance to Ron, was clearly one of the Weasley brothers. Voldemort did not care at all which one it was. In his mind, they—and their families—were now on the Death Eater hit list, slated for a painful and disgusting end.


	4. An Orderly Meeting pun intended

Chapter 3

News of Hogwarts's downfall spread extremely quickly. Nearly all of the Order learned of the event beforehand, and it was the subject of much conversation. By 2:55 p.m. all the members of the Order of the Phoenix were at No. 12 Grimmauld Place; the meeting started slightly early.

"May I have your attention, please!" wheezed Dumbledore loudly from the front of the room, with the help of a Sonorus spell. The noisy background chatter cut off instantly as everyone listened to their white-haired leader.

"As you already know," Dumbledore began, "a large Death Eater army under the command of the late Lord Voldemort captured Hogwarts this morning. It is clear that Voldemort is truly dead; his ghost was seen leading the Death Eaters. Our primary objective today is to decide how best to defeat the Death Eaters once again. Unfortunately, Voldemort appears to have the support not only of over twenty thousand British wizards, but also that of the giants, the Acromantulas of the Forbidden Forest, the mountain trolls, and the Dementors, as well as a limited number of hippogriffs, dragons, and serpents.

"So, it is quite clear that if we are to face them directly, we must gather many more people to our cause.

"In addition, we have new information that may greatly assist us. Our resident scientist, Hermione Granger, has been studying the Avada Kedavra curse and has discovered, possibly, some ways to avoid its effects."

As Hermione mounted the stage, Dumbledore brought out his wand, pointed it at himself, and whispered "Quietus"—but since the word was still amplified by the same Sonorus spell that it was meant to end, it sounded with the volume of ordinary speech. He then pointed his wand at Hermione, muttering "Sonorus" as she started to speak.

"The Avada Kedavra we have now," she stated, her voice amplified by the spell, "is the wanded version of a wandless killing spell in Ancient Magic. The Ancient Magic version was used by a wizard against another wizard he or she wanted to kill. The drawback of the wandless Avada Kedavra was that it killed the caster and the target simultaneously, so it was seldom used.

"After wands were invented, someone discovered that saying the same Avada Kedavra incantation while waving the wand would produce a killing curse that killed only the target. Then the killing got out of hand and Avada Kedavra had to be banned, which is why it's now an Unforgivable Curse…"

Heads were beginning to droop in the audience, many of which feared that Hermione would spend the next hour talking about history. Ron whispered as discreetly as he could to Hermione, "Get to the point before we fall asleep!" She looked up, noticed the closing eyelids and drooping heads, and quickly nodded back to Ron, before continuing: "Anyway, the Avada Kedavra curse works similarly to a bow shooting arrows, which makes it possible to evade. The curse itself manifests as an emerald green energy pulse which shoots in a completely straight line out of the wand and kills whoever it touches. So in fact a person using Avada Kedavra must make sure his target is lined up perfectly with his wand at the moment he finishes saying 'Kedavra'. If you are out of the way when the caster says the last syllable, you're safe.

"What that means is that if someone tries to use Avada Kedavra on you, stay out of the way of the wand! Apparating or Portkeying out of the way works quite well.

"I think I'm close to finding a counter-curse to actually deflect the spell. In Ancient Magic, the target of an Avada Kedavra spell could be protected if someone else sacrificed themselves to protect the target. Once that occurs, the next Avada Kedavra aimed at the target would backfire on the caster. That's how Harry was protected from the curse ten years ago. We know that story. So if there's a wandless version of the protection spell, that involves sacrificing the caster, there must be a wanded spell that shields against Avada Kedavra—all we need to do is find the incantation. For now, though, if a Death Eater or anyone else tries to Avada Kedavra you, just apparate out of the way."

When she finished, Dumbledore assumed the stage once more. "Now, we will require each and every one of you to find anyone sympathetic to our cause. We will require all the assistance possible to fend off the Death Eaters. There is sure to be a meeting of the Wizengamot tomorrow, and I will try to obtain Ministry help. However, I am not entirely sure if we will receive it; I am beginning to suspect that many Ministry officials are sympathetic to Voldemort's cause themselves.

"That is all."

-----September 12, 2000----

Rita Skeeter had shrewdly printed extra copies of the _Daily Prophet_ that day; for as she correctly anticipated, the _Daily Prophet_ flew off the newsstands faster than ever before. Dumbledore was among the first to pick up a copy, reading it on his way to the Ministry. He looked at the enormous, bolded headline:

_**DEATH EATERS CAPTURE HOGWARTS**_

Below the headline was a large picture of the Death Eater army charging towards Hogwarts. Dumbledore noted that the picture had been taken as an aerial view from behind the Death Eaters, as he continued reading:

_Hogwarts Castle – Yesterday morning, a large number of Death Eaters, apparently led by Lord Voldemort himself, stormed the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, quickly taking over the entire castle and forcing the teachers and students to flee. Several witnesses saw the Dark Lord's ghost at the forefront of the Death Eaters; it seems that even Voldemort's death three years ago poses no impediment to his ability to lead his followers. In fact, in the three years following Voldemort's death, the Dementors, Acromantulas, House Elves, and Mountain Trolls joined Voldemort's cause. One truly wonders, what good did Harry Potter's heroic defeat of the Dark Lord really do? It seems that Voldemort's opponents only assisted him by making him a martyr, drawing him massive sympathy and support. In death Voldemort is now a far, far greater threat than he was in life._

Dumbledore folded up the newspaper, putting it in his robes as he entered the Ministry to serve his official duties as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. In fact, the Wizengamot was going to meet that very morning, to decide how to deal with the threat of Voldemort's army.

He sat at the meeting table, one of the first to arrive. The other Wizengamot members filed in one by one. The freedom of the wizarding United Kingdom—and possibly the world—now hung in the balance as the court members debated their next course of action.


	5. How to Lose

Chapter 4

-----September 12, 2000 (Continued)----

"How many Death Eaters did you say there were again?" Amelia Bones asked, after Dumbledore offered his eyewitness account of the Battle of Hogwarts.

"I cannot tell exactly how many," he answered, "Certainly more than twenty thousand, however."

"And we're supposed to fight that many of them?" one wizard demanded incredulously.

"There are only a hundred and twenty thousand wizards in our entire nation! If a quarter of our people are taking up arms in Voldemort's rebellion, there must be many more people supporting them! Who would be left to fight for our side?"

"Those people may not truly support Voldemort and his racist agenda; perhaps they merely joined out of fear. It is possible that Voldemort's core supporters are using intimidation and Cruciatus Curses to force others to join them," Dumbledore pointed out.

"But if that's the case, why haven't we gotten any reports from family or friends of the 'intimidated' people? What about the mountain trolls, the serpents, the dragons?"

"Beasts can be controlled, as they are not fully intelligent," Dumbledore responded, "and the Death Eaters may have drafted entire families into their ranks, keeping them quiet with threats. If they have done this quietly for the past three years, they may indeed have coerced a quarter of Great Britain. It is not over. We may yet recruit the other three-quarters of our people to fight. It would also be prudent to offer amnesty and protection to any Death Eater who did not become one of his own free will. This may draw many thousands of them to our side."

"And what if they don't desert? What if fear of Voldemort is just too strong?"

"We can still wage a successful guerrilla campaign. I can have the Order and our Aurors combine and hide them in each city undercover. The Aurors can pretend to be civilians, sniping at the Death Eaters from windows and then retreating, then attacking again wherever the Death Eaters are off-guard. Besides, let us have some faith in the Aurors we train. Yesterday morning at Hogwarts I watched three Aurors fend off twenty thousand Death Eaters for over fifteen minutes, inflicting many casualties while receiving none. They cleverly distracted the main body of Death Eaters by hexing the dragons, then lured the mountain trolls forward and made the trolls step on the human Death Eaters. With more Aurors, the result would have been better. I do wonder why only three were sent when I requested as many as possible…"

"The other Aurors were all on the trail, hunting people like Lucius Malfoy and Theodore Nott. Now we know just where these people are. I guess we can call back the Aurors."

"We've got less than a thousand Aurors. How is this going to work?"

"We should just surrender to Voldemort and beg for mercy."

Several of the Wizengamot members had already lost hope. Dumbledore looked suspiciously at them without moving his eyes. He wondered if they were the ones being bribed by the Death Eaters.

"We can win no matter how outnumbered we are," Dumbledore insisted, "see how just three of our Aurors did at Hogwarts. As long as the people are loyal to me," he had chosen the wording carefully, "the Death Eaters cannot win. Even if they take over the Ministry and begin a reign of terror, the hearts and minds of the people will be with us. The more oppressive the Death Eaters are, the more they will drive people to our side. What matters is the will to resist. I can already see several of us losing their will." He stared pointedly at the wizard who had suggested surrendering. "That is the _one and only_ way to lose."

In the meantime, Hermione was at one of several tables in her laboratory. Suddenly her darkened fireplace flared to life with a green fire. Harry Potter rolled out of the flame and stood in one smooth movement, wand drawn before him. After looking around the room, he convinced himself there was no threat and put his wand back in his robes. "Hey Hermione! What're you working on there?" he asked as he walked up to her table.

"A telescopic gunsight," she replied. "It's supposed to attach to a wand. We can look through the scope and target distant things with spells." She picked up a hollow metal tube with a lens at each end. At the bottom of the tube, another piece of metal had been attached that contained a clip wide enough to hold a pencil. She stuck her wand into it and held the entire device to her right eye, closing her left. Harry quickly understood what she was doing.

"Is it supposed to be used for sniping at Death Eaters?" he asked.

"Exactly. I'm just trying to get the right magnification for the scope."

"May I try?"

"Sure." She took her wand out of the clip at the bottom of the scope and gave the scope to him. "I've set up a target at the end of the hallway. Just look through the scope, the place where the two lines cross is where the spell will hit."

Harry slipped his own wand into the clip and went out into the hallway. The target was simply a parchment with alternated red-and-white circles painted on it. Harry grasped the scope in his hand and held it to his eye.

"You've got to be touching the wand to cast a spell," Hermione reminded him.

He touched the wand with his other hand and sighted through the crosshairs on the scope, pointing at the center red circle on the target.

"Avada kedavra," he said softly. A glowing green bolt shot off the tip of his wand, embedding itself in the bulls-eye. The bolt disappeared, finding no human to kill.

Meanwhile…

Voldemort glanced at a nearby clock. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon. His army had spent all of the day before and this morning in Hogwarts, helping themselves to the food in the kitchens and the dormitories vacated by the students. He felt that his army was now clean enough to begin the next part of the plan, after they had been delayed by the battle of yesterday.

**_Flashback_**

_The Death Eaters entered Hogwarts, quickly determining that all the students and teachers had escaped and that the school was safe. Voldemort ordered his non-human troops to camp outside the castle. He then ordered Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy, and Blaise Zabini to conjure up corpses to feed the Dementors and acromantulas; he sent Theodore Nott, Lucius Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe Senior, and Rabastan and Rudolphus Lestrange to tie up and feed the centaurs and horses outside._

_Inside, Voldemort divided his men (and women) into equal groups, ensuring that each bathroom was used equally. He allowed his troops to change out of their uniforms and shower, but required that each one take no longer than 15 minutes to shower. Those Death Eaters who hadn't yet showered, still sweaty and soaked to the bone with urine, eagerly enforced this rule upon anyone who was too slow in the showers. Even so, Hogwarts had not been designed to accommodate so many people, and it took five hours of continuous showering before all the Death Eaters were clean and in new uniforms. The dorms could not accommodate everyone, so many Death Eaters were forced to sleep in hallways, classrooms or even outside. It began to rain that afternoon, and sheltering the whole courtyard from the rain was a large task as well. Voldemort decided to delay the next stage of his campaign._

_**End Flashback**_

Now, the embarrassment of yesterday was past, and it was again time to move. Voldemort floated high in the sky, directing his troops into their formations. One thousand of his troops, including forty Dementors, remained at Hogwarts under the command of Rabastan Lestrange; the others marched for Hogsmeade.

At two o'clock Voldemort floated into Hogsmeade at the head of his army. The Death Eaters rapidly moved through the streets. They surrounded each house one by one and asked permission of the owners to raise a Dark Mark; they were never rebuffed. More and more Dark Marks appeared over Hogsmeade, each signaling that a house or store had been secured.

Satisfied, Voldemort handpicked five hundred Death Eaters, plus a giant serpent and ten mountain trolls. He then placed Draco Malfoy in command of the village and ordered the rest of the Death Eaters south of Hogsmeade.

Voldemort counted his troops again as they marched south: 28,500 humans (2,500 riding centaurs and 4,500 riding horses), 11 serpents, 1,800 house elves, 265 acromantulas, 290 mountain trolls, 17 hippogriffs, and 3 fire dragons. A quick roll call later that night proved that all was in order. No one had deserted their duty.

Voldemort was certain that he would control London within two weeks.


	6. Why Join the Death Eaters?

Chapter 5

-----September 13, 2000----

Voldemort gathered his higher-ranked Death Eaters for another meeting.

"New plan," Voldemort announced, "To speed up our conquest, we will split up our forces. Five hundred Death Eaters plus ten Dementors or twenty of the other beasts should suffice for each town. Mr. Zabini, you will capture and hold Middlesbrough; Mr. Montague, Kingston upon Hull; Miss Parkinson, Manchester; Mr. Flint, Liverpool. Each of you may choose five hundred Death Eaters to take with you, and twenty total of either acromantulas or mountain trolls. While you do that, I will take the main force to Birmingham, where after a short rest we will repeat this arrangement for the southern cities. Remember, treat the people in each town with the utmost kindness. Show no cruelty to anyone and use no intimidation in recruiting more troops. Take each with you three thousand copies of our standard propaganda book and distribute them out to the residents of each town. Use only persuasion; no force unless **absolutely** necessary," he hissed, carefully emphasizing "absolutely".

"Dismissed!"

Within an hour, the Death Eaters had split off; at about 10:00 a.m., a group of five hundred Death Eaters, five mountain trolls, and fifteen acromantulas, led by Blaise Zabini, reached the small town of Middlesbrough. Although clearly not the same as the full force that had been seen at Hogwarts, they nevertheless frightened the people there.

Blaise pointed his wand at himself, muttering "Sonorus" as he arrived. "Ladies and gentlemen!" he shouted as loud as he could, "I do not wish for bloodshed; do not resist and no one will be harmed!" The wizards and witches in the street wondered at the approaching Death Eaters, who all had their wands out and had swords upon their belt. The sight of the spiders and trolls following peacefully as if disciplined was even more mystifying. However, the Death Eaters had never before shown mercy; everyone determined to take up Zabini on his offer and stood carefully, keeping their hands in the open as Death Eaters marched down the streets. The acromantulas and trolls, while scary, followed instructions and were careful not to step on anyone.

Soon the Dark Mark had been raised over each house, showing that the city was now safe for Voldemort's followers.

"Distribute the booklets!" cried Blaise, and the Death Eaters around town immediately brought copies of a small book out of the folds of their robes, handing them out to the civilians and making the civilians read. Each Death Eater had been carrying six copies, so everyone in the town got one with some to spare. Blaise went about checking that all the townspeople had received a booklet. He then conjured up a massive sign at the southern gate of Middlesborough. The sign read: "Everyone who wishes to volunteer for Lord Voldemort's rebellion may sign up here!"

The next morning, the line of recruits was very, very long, to say the least—and no one was under any Imperius Curses, except for the mountain trolls.

Around this time, Marietta Edgecombe looked out of the window of her apartment in Manchester, her attention drawn by the sounds of a multitude of footsteps. She quickly noticed the hundreds of Death Eaters, with ten Dementors and ten acromantulas at the front, marching into the city from the north.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We come in peace to deliver a message from Lord Voldemort. Do not resist and you will not be harmed!" The voice, clearly amplified by a Sonorus spell, echoed through the town; Marietta realized with a start that it was the voice of a former fellow student, Pansy Parkinson.

The Death Eaters quickly, and in organized fashion, swept into each and every building, one at a time, and would always come out a few minutes later, raise a Dark Mark over the building, and then move on to the next. Sooner or later, she realized, they would reach her apartment. The knock on her door came a few minutes later.

As she tried to decide what to do, the pounding became more insistent. She decided that it would not be wise to resist; she opened her door and was greeted by two tall, hooded Death Eaters, each wearing a heavy black cloak emblazoned with a silver Dark Mark. Both Death Eaters had their wands in their hands, but not pointed directly at her; and each had a sword on his belt.

"May I help you?" she politely asked the two men, while keeping a firm grip on her own wand.

"Take this," one of the Death Eaters ordered, taking her hand and placing a small booklet in it. "And _read it_." The two men moved on down the corridor, and Marietta shut and locked the door once more, looking over at the book. It was titled "The Ministry of Magic: Oppressor of Britain" and was illustrated on the cover with a picture of a wizard with his legs pinned under the Ministry building. Intrigued, she opened the book and started reading:

* * *

_**The Ministry of Magic: Oppressor of Britain**_

_**Introduction**_

_The Ministry of Magic is long overdue to fall. For too long we have silently tolerated the corruption and incompetence of Ministry officials of every rank, and there remains today not one wizard or witch in all Britain who does not personally know a victim of the Ministry's injustice. Yet the Ministry is so heavy-handed that until now, no one has dared to rebel against it. For lack of a leader willing and able to overthrow and replace the Ministry, the country has suffered through many years of oppression; official after corrupt official has become wealthy at the expense of the common people._

_Now, however, that leader has been found. Lord Voldemort alone has dared to stand up to the Ministry, as he needs not fear death—for he is already dead. Thousands have flocked to the banner of the Death Eaters. The day of Britain's liberation from the tyranny of the Ministry of Magic is approaching rapidly._

_**The Myth of "Light Magic"**_

_For many years now the Ministry has tried to paint itself as the side of good. Rather than listen to demands for change, the Ministry has vilified its opponents for using "dark magic", making much of their laws that permit light magic exclusively._

_The truth is that **what matters is what ends you use magic for, not what "color" of magic it is.** Dark magic can be used for good ends—as Salazar Slytherin used it during the founding of Hogwarts, and the Death Eaters now use it to liberate the wizards and witches of Britain—and light magic can be used for evil!The Ministry's Aurors, indeed, have inflicted incredible injustices upon the common people using exclusively light magic. "Light magic" does not place its user on any higher moral ground than "dark magic"._

_**It's Okay to Be a Pureblood**_

_Another common tactic of Ministry officials attempting to defend themselves is to label their opponents as "racist" or "intolerant". As a result, many half-bloods and mudbloods have been granted high positions in the Ministry, and it is no coincidence that those same officials are making the entire country suffer with their incompetence and dishonesty. They complain of discrimination and prejudice from purebloods when they themselves are inflicting wrongs far greater than mere prejudice upon the pureblooded population, thus demonstrating that any prejudice they receive, has been well earned. **As Death Eaters, we do NOT support killing of mudbloods, contrary to Order of the Phoenix propaganda; we do believe, however, that there should be no contact between the Muggle and wizard worlds.**_

_Any person who has no Muggle ancestors within three generations is considered pureblood; therefore, we believe that blood purification can be accomplished by prohibiting marriage between wizards and Muggles. In this way, the descendants of any mudbloods or half-bloods, after three generations, will become pureblood. A limited few radicals do advocate killing mudbloods and half-bloods; we do not._

_**The Cause of the Death Eaters**_

_We have discussed what we are against; now we shall offer our vision for the future._

_We believe that in the corrupt Ministry of today, money plays an inappropriately large role. The "democratic" elections for the Minister of Magic's position clearly are insufficient to prevent massive and unacceptable graft among the Minister's subordinates. The Wizengamot and the lower ministries are where most of the corruption resides; the suborned Wizengamot providing cover to the heads of the various Departments and their subordinates. We intend to abolish the Wizengamot and make all top Department officials elected, giving the common people a greater ability to stop corruption and bring justice to the officials responsible._

_We will also stop the reverse discrimination now being inflicted upon the pureblood population. It is true that at one time, over a hundred years ago, mudbloods suffered persecution at the hands of the pureblood government; but we feel that the current blood traitor-dominated Ministry has more than compensated for any past treatment, through their recent actions which have disproportionately hurt pureblood wizards. Let us call it even and say that, from now on, **all wizards are equal, no matter what descent**._

_High taxes are a severe burden upon the average wizard family. The most important reason for these high taxes is not the recent war, as the Ministry claims, but rather because Ministry officials themselves embezzle public funds for their own use. When we have stopped this, we will have removed a great drain upon our economy. Wizarding Britain has the potential to be far more prosperous than it is, and it will be when Lord Voldemort is at the helm._

_The two Great Wizarding Wars themselves were, indeed, contrived by the Ministry to provide an excuse for their oppressive methods. Dark Magic is not inherently immoral, as we have shown before; the Ministry's insistence on prosecuting dark wizards not for any actual crime, but simply for the "crime" of using a particular "color" of magic, is unjustifiable. We believe that light and dark wizards can live together in peace, and learn much from one another._

_Look upon a future under the Ministry's thumb and one sees a dead end. We, the Death Eaters, offer to you a vision of peace, prosperity, and hope. Live no longer under the false shadow of war; fight for a bright future for you and your prosperity. Join us in our cause._

_**Be a Death Eater**_

_Death Eaters are paid 45 Galleons a month and receive free food, water, and shelter. All recruits will be properly trained in self-defense, wand dueling, and swordfighting. Cavalry recruits will be taught to use spears and will be provided with horses. You may enlist by contacting the Death Eater commander in your area._

* * *

Now Marietta realized what was causing so many people to join the Death Eaters. She shut the Death Eater philosophy book and then marched to her fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder and throwing it in. A green flame flared up in the formerly dark fireplace. "Albus Dumbledore!" she shouted. A few seconds later the Headmaster's large, bearded face appeared in the flames. 

"Ah, Marietta. What is the matter?"

"Headmaster, I've just discovered why so many people are joining the Death Eaters! They've been giving out this propaganda book." She handed the book through her fireplace to Dumbledore's office. "Call a meeting of the Order immediately so we can figure out a response."


End file.
